[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20349-20350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise today to talk about 
a bill that I am proud of, and of which all Americans should be proud.
  I first want to commend the esteemed chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee, Senator Byrd for his commitment to drafting a bill that is 
in our Nation's best interest. I also would like to convey my respect 
for Senator Byrd and the ranking member, Senator Cochran, for the 
exemplary bipartisan they have shown in negotiating this bill and 
bringing it to the floor.
  The Homeland Security Appropriations bill that will be before us 
later today is a clear indication that our priorities have changed. 
After years of neglecting key homeland security initiatives, this bill 
ends a trend that has been straining our first responders, forcing our 
States to come up with more, and leaving us more vulnerable than we 
should be 6 years after September 11.
  This bill is part of a framework that we have created this year to 
restructure our priorities--and it is clear that homeland security is 
at the top of the list. I am proud of the levels we set in the budget 
resolution we passed earlier this year. As a member of the Budget 
Committee, one of my top requests to Chairman Conrad was that we 
provide enough to the Appropriations Committee so that it could not 
just reject the President's cuts to key homeland security funding, but 
go above and beyond what has been funded in recent years. I thank 
Chairman Conrad, for his commitment to homeland security funding in the 
budget resolution and for understanding what those funds mean to a 
State like New Jersey.
  This year we have set the tone. The message is clear--when it comes 
to homeland security, the status quo just won't cut it. This bill says 
that loud and clear. By increasing overall funding by 8 percent over 
last year, we recognize that those on our front lines need our support. 
In this bill, they will get it.
  For New Jersey, the funds in this bill mean the difference between 
having what we need to protect our high-risk areas and leaving our 
infrastructure vulnerable. The grants this bill provides means millions 
more for our ports to increase site security and implement key 
initiatives.
  The increases for next year mean our fire departments will have the 
resources they need to hire new firefighters, to upgrade their 
equipment, and to reduce the long shifts far too many of them are 
working. The focus on first responder funding means our law enforcement 
will continue to have support to carry out key terrorism prevention 
efforts in our cities.
  Perhaps most importantly, this bill does not take the approach that 
we can do what is minimally required and pretend that is enough. For 
all of the President's talks about how critical security at home is, 
for all the administration continues to warn us about how at risk we 
are for an attack, I am just dumbfounded because no matter where I 
look, I cannot find where he makes supporting our first responders a 
priority. No matter how hard I try, I cannot see how he expects our 
ports to be as secure as they should be 6 years after September 11. For 
all the reminders this administration likes to give the American people 
that we are at war, that we are vulnerable, that we must be vigilant, I 
do not see where we are matching that rhetoric with dollars.
  This bill is about more than rhetoric. It is about providing what is 
needed.
  I am proud that this bill rejects the President's cuts to first 
responders, and actually increases funding by $644 million. Nearly 6 
years after September 11, would seem unfathomable that we would 
actually cut funding for first responders, but that is exactly what the 
President's budget called for.
  In this bill, we provide more than $400 million than the President 
for firefighters. We increase funding for FIRE grants by $25 million 
more than last year so that fire departments can purchase new 
equipment. When nearly a third of firefighters are not equipped with a 
self-contained breathing apparatus or portable radios, I think there is 
no question that these funds are sorely needed. One of the grant 
programs I hear about the most, as I am sure do many members, is the 
SAFER grants. I have listened to firefighters from my State far too 
many times plead for the SAFER grants not to be cut. And yet, every 
year, this is a fight we have had to have with the administration. I 
truly hope this is the last year. These grants help departments 
increase their staff, often so they can cover more 24-hour shifts. Our 
bill increases funding by $13 million over last year.
  I am also extremely proud of the direction this bill takes us for 
improving key grant funding to States and our most at-risk areas. This 
bill restores the two major grant programs, the State Homeland Security 
Grant Program and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program, and 
increases funding for urban area security grants. For reasons I cannot 
explain, the President sought to cut State homeland grants in half, and 
practically eliminate the law enforcement grants.
  For States like New Jersey, these funds are not just an added bonus--
they are essential. These grants allow States to purchase equipment, 
train first responders, put in place response plans, and a whole host 
of other critical activities. By restoring cuts to these programs, 
officials in New Jersey will have the confidence that we are working to 
provide them every last dollar, and that we understand how critical 
this funding is.
  Our bill also provides an increase for the Urban Area Security 
Initiative, the only fully-risked based funding of its kind, designed 
to help the most high-threat urban areas. I have spoken on this floor 
before about the unique threats that our UASI--Urban Area Security 
Initiative--region in northern New Jersey faces. As one of the most 
densely populated areas in the Nation, we face the complexity of 
populous neighborhoods nestled among high-profile infrastructure, 
including the largest port on the east coast, a major international 
airport, and a string of chemical plants--which makes up what is known 
as the ``2 most dangerous miles'' in America. When people back home 
hear that, they ask me what we are doing to protect that area, because 
those 2 miles are not isolated--thousands drive by it every day, and 
many live close enough to call it their backyard. When we pass this 
bill, I can tell them that yes, we are working to make more funding 
available, yes, we are addressing those areas most at risk.
  Our bill also seeks to end the trend of pouring our resources into 
aviation security and spending pennies in comparison on rail, mass 
transit, port, and chemical security. This bill more than

[[Page 20350]]

doubles funding for rail and transit security, and far exceeds what our 
past funding bills have done for port security. We provide $400 million 
for port security grants, a level which our ports have been calling for 
for some time.
  Anyone who knows the Port of New York and New Jersey understands the 
daunting task of securing the perimeter of the port. The port is 
surrounded by storage facilities and warehouses, with waterways on one 
side, and a major highway and an airport on the other, and rail lines 
and a major pipeline running along side it. So, for a site as complex 
as our port, perimeter security is no easy feat.
  Our Nation's ports have a long to-do list, and I guarantee you, every 
one of the improvements they want to make costs money. In the wake of 
the SAFE Port Act, which the President signed into law last year, our 
ports have even more requirements they are supposed to carry out. Yet 
the President did not call for any funding to implement these 
initiatives. Our bill does.
  We double port security grants, to the level authorized in the SAFE 
Port Act.
  We provide $15 million for the Coast Guard so they can increase the 
number of inspections at facilities, conduct vulnerability assessments, 
and develop long-range vessel tracking systems.
  We provide $60 million for operational centers as called for in the 
SAFE Port Act that will help coordinate information sharing, 
intelligence gathering, and support cooperation among Federal, State, 
and local agencies.
  And, we provide $15 million to help ports implement the TWIC port 
worker ID program, which has been delayed again and again. It is past 
time for us to have something as simple as uniform, technologically 
advanced ID cads for those workers at our ports.
  This bill also contains a very short, but very crucial provision that 
is well known to people in New Jersey. It allows States to have more 
stringent chemical security standards. If you have ever been to 
Newark's Liberty Airport, than you were within a few short miles of the 
Kuehne plant in South Kearny, in a range that would without question be 
devastated by an attack at that facility. Because plants like this one 
are uniquely sandwiched between highways and neighborhoods, in an area 
that rises to the level of being called the ``2 most dangerous miles,'' 
New Jersey has taken action to make sure we are doing everything 
possible to keep these plants secure.
  Because it is far ahead of the curve when it comes to chemical 
security, the notion that the Department of Homeland Security can issue 
regulations that could preempt New Jersey's, and possibly be weaker 
than our standards, turns logic on its head. The bottom line is, when 
it comes to the security of things uniquely New Jersey, like the 
location of this chemical plant, no one knows what we need better than 
our State. And that is the position that this bill takes. I applaud my 
fellow Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg, for ensuring this 
language is part of this bill, and I thank Senator Byrd for realizing 
how essential preserving New Jersey's standards are for the future of 
chemical security.
  When this Homeland Security appropriations bill is passed and signed 
into law, we will be able to definitively say we have passed 
legislation that makes us smarter and stronger when it comes to our 
Nation's security.
  The bill ensures we are protecting, not neglecting, our critical 
infrastructure; our first responders have more, not less, to do their 
jobs; and our States will have the critical resources they deserve.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this incredibly sound bill and 
take this important step to getting our homeland security funding where 
it should be in finally meeting the challenge of securing our Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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